Explain how to find all the factors of a number systematically

I can explain how to find all the factors of a number systematically.

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Year 5

Explain how to find all the factors of a number systematically

I can explain how to find all the factors of a number systematically.

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Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

All numbers have themselves and 1 as factors.
Listing factors in order helps identify all the factors for a given number.

Keywords

Factor - Factors are whole numbers which exactly divide another whole number.
Systematic - Being systematic, means working in a set way, often according to a fixed plan.

Common misconception

Pupils do not know when to stop looking for more factors.

Build up finding factors of numbers systematically by arranging into rows and columns, starting with 1 row. Encourage pupils to generalise that when the number of rows becomes larger than the number of columns, you can stop looking for factors.

There are a number of ways for pupils to recognise that they no longer need to search for factors. Spend time encouraging pupils to reason how they know they have all the factors, linking this to the language of multiplication and division equations.

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).